Pro-Newt super PAC launches voter fraud app

Want to be a poll watcher? Now there’s an app for that, thanks to the Winning Our Future super PAC.

The group made a name for itself early in the Republican election cycle when casino billionaire mogul Sheldon Adelson donated $15 million to support Newt Gingrich’s campaign for president. When Newt’s candidacy went bust, Winning Our Future went quiet - but with less than a week until Election Day, the group has reemerged by releasing its own voter fraud app for smartphones.

The app, called VoteStand, allows users to submit their own photo or video along with text to report “incidents” they see at their local polling place. It notes only in the terms of service that it is illegal to take photos or video inside of a polling station in many states. Users are able to agree to those terms of service without reading them, and there is no additional warning to make sure one complies with local election laws before a photo is taken. The app says all incidents submitted will be investigated, although it is unclear by whom.

The app also allows a user to browse the latest incidents, which on Friday included one photo that showed a picture of a grassy lawn littered with acorns. The “incident,” from Houston, Tx., home of Tea Party poll-watching group True the Vote, was titled ”A whole lot of ACORNS!” a likely reference to the now defunct voter registration group.

It’s unclear how many incidents Winning Our Future expects to receive, as voter fraud is rare. An exhaustive search done by News21 this year found only 2,086 cases of even alleged voting fraud since 2000 across the entire country. Over that time period, upwards of 620 million votes were cast. That’s a fraud rate of roughly 0.0003%.

VoteStand is not the only smartphone app conservatives will be using on Election Day. The Romney campaign has launched Project ORCA, which will arm 34,000 poll watchers with apps allowing them to keep track of who is and isn’t voting at precincts around the country.

In an interview on PoliticsNation Thursday, Sirius XM radio host Joe Madison said, “Jim Crow used a rope, James Crow Esquire uses an app. It’s all the same. It’s voter intimidation.”